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December 6, 2013

Season's Wii-tings: Super Mario 3D World

Time for a little
positive thinking. (I deserve this after
a month of Family Guy posts. Just let me have this.)

With November 22nd
now past us, the big three have all released their eighth-generation
consoles. Notably, November saw the
release of two of those three consoles within a week of one another, and both
have reportedly broken the “million units sold” mark. Which console won the first fight in the
latest and greatest war yet? Which one
will go on to claim true victory over all others?

Frankly, I could care
less. Right now the Wii U’s the winner
in my book.

That’s not to say that
the PS4 or Xbox One are worthless or useless.
And that’s not to say that the Wii U’s flawless, or that it’ll suddenly
overwhelm the competition to become a financial juggernaut (though that’d be
totally awesome and I kind of hope it happens).
But when I look at the games for the “real” consoles and see games that
are getting browner, grayer, duller, shootier, stabbier, and
microtransactionier…well, I hope you’ll forgive me for not exploding with
hype. (Seriously, you know your
console’s messed up when
new technology makes it HARDER to do colors.) Comparatively, Nintendo’s first real step
into the HD generation has given us colors, aesthetics, imagination, and a
level of splendor that almost heals the wounds left by DmC. Almost.

So you know what? It’s almost Christmas. Let’s make it a special one, and gab about
Wii U games -- starting with the kinda-sorta fantastic Super Mario 3D World.
Because as it turns out, it’s fantastic in a way you’ll never see
coming.

Let me back up and make
something clear: the Mario games are not my forte. At all.
The 2D Mario games are completely lost on me (the semi-recent Game
Grumps LP of Mario 3 was the first
time I saw…well, anything of that
game). Now that I think about it, most
of the 3D Mario games are lost on me; I didn’t really play 64 until the DS rerelease, I’ve only recently started playing Sunshine in spite of owning a (cheap)
Player’s Choice copy for years, and my brother’s utter distaste for the
original Wii led to him trading in Galaxy
1 and 2 before I could sink my
teeth into them. Hope it was worth it to
play more Gears of War, big bro.

If you want me to tell
you exactly what makes the Mario games tick or the subtle nuances between one
game and the next, you’re better off looking elsewhere. What I can tell you, to the best of my
ability, is what 3D World does
well. It really is a well-put together game,
I can tell you that much right off the bat.
It’s a joy to play, it makes me feel good, it’s a solid multiplayer
title, it’s bursting with color and imagination, it’s the perfect game for
gamers that love pushing their skills to the limit…I wouldn’t say it’s perfect,
but the mere existence of this game makes a pretty
strong argument for going with a Wii U this Christmas. Because really, what are you going to get
instead? Ryse: Son of Rome?

Please. Does Ryse:
Son of Rome have CAT DIVEKICKS?

The Cat Suit is as good
a place to start as any, so let’s chat about that for a bit. In case you haven’t heard, the Cat Suit is
one of the canon’s latest power-ups, and the lynchpin of the game. Grab a bell from a block, and your character
of choice -- Mario, Luigi, Peach, or Toad -- will put on a full body suit. Not only that, but they’ll be able to
scratch-attack enemies, climb walls, and do the aforementioned cat divekick
(well technically it’s more of a diving tackle, but it’s still very reminiscent
of the divekick). It’s not just Nintendo
running out of ideas; it shows that they understand the nature of their game,
and gave the players the one tool they need to succeed…assuming they can avoid
getting hit.

Like the title implies,
the worlds are in fully-realized 3D. But
what’s clear almost from the get-go is that there’s a major emphasis on the
vertical element of the platforming experience.
You’re going to have to do more than a little “mountain climbing” if you
want to clear some levels (or more often than not, find the Green Stars that’ll
unlock each world’s boss level/enemy encounters). So what tool do you get first? The Cat Suit, of course! In fact, chances are that if the game
suddenly gives you a bell, you’ll need it almost immediately -- and you have to
make sure you don’t get hit.

I had a conversation
with my brother about the place of the Cat Suit in this game, and he asked “Why
would you ever use anything besides the Cat Suit?” It’s true that the Cat Suit is supremely
useful, but you’re not always going to have one on hand. That’s where things like the Tanooki Suit,
Fire Flower, and Boomerang Suit come in, not to mention incidental items like
blocks that’ll give you spotlights, propellers, or even cannons to wear on your
head. Each power-up gives you a tool
that’ll help you in certain situations, and keeping them can lead to
alterations in your game plan. I’m
personally a fan of the Boomerang power-up, because it lets you attack distant
enemies like the Fire Flower, BUT the boomerang comes back to you so you can do
a little extra damage or correct for a missed toss (at the expense of being
able to spam projectiles like with the Fire Flower). It certainly helps that the boomerang can
pull in Green Stars…and beyond that, boomerangs are just a cool-ass weapon.

Another thing that my
brother and I talked about was how “broken” the Cat Suit is -- and by
extension, how “easy” it is to rack up lives in the game. It’s true that the Cat Suit gives the player
a big advantage, but from what I can gather it feels like an extension of past
Mario games. Mario 3 and Super had the
Raccoon Tail and Super Cape, respectively, and using those either made the game
significantly easier on the player or outright broke levels wide open. Additionally, those power-ups were designed to
help players find the secrets, and explore each new stage to the fullest
extent. If you’re on the top of your
game in any Mario game and know how to get to those little treasure troves,
you’re going to get a surplus of lives as well as those glowy bits bound to get
you to new worlds. Seriously, I left the
fifth world on my solo run with upwards of fifty lives. I’m pretty much immortal.

I wouldn’t say the game
is hard, per se. The difficulty level isn’t exactly stressful
in most cases (there are some tough levels and tricky obstacles littered
throughout), so -- like Kirby’s Epic Yarn
before it -- the game isn’t so much about pitting you against an onslaught
of trials as it is breezily exploring and enjoying the worlds laid out before
you. It’s more difficult than Epic Yarn, yes -- you can actually die
in this game, and there’s a timer that WILL get you if you’re not careful --
but this is a game that puts the emphasis on showing you new things. New challenges, like some reality-warping child
is constantly making up new rules and throwing new toys in your path. It’s refreshing, being able to tackle these
challenges at your own pace.

For the most part, at
least. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

The worlds may be fixed
challenges, but you can give your playthrough a bit of flexibility by choosing
a character that suits your style. Mario
is the all-rounder, of course. Little
brother Luigi’s got the highest jumps, but has significantly worse traction. Toad’s the fastest of the four, but he’s the
weakest jumper. And my main, Peach, has
her float ability from Smash Bros. and
Mario 2 (albeit nerfed for fairness)
at the cost of speed. She’s seriously
the slowest -- it takes much longer for her dash to reach top speed, and even
then she can just barely keep up with other characters, especially when the
time comes for jumping across pressure-sensitive or motion-triggering
platforms. That said, she’s a character
that suits me, because her slower speed lets me savor the flavor of each level,
her float lets me compensate for my lack of platformer skill (and ignore more
than a few obstacles for some Green Stars), and…come on, it’s Princess
Peach. She deserves her chance to shine
in a quality -- and presumably canon -- game.

If I had to guess, I’d
say 3D World is a culmination of all
the Mario games past; it’s Nintendo’s understanding and implementation of past
and present ideas into something new.
The long jump -- and by extension, ducking and the backflip jump -- from
Mario 64 is back with a vengeance, as
is the side jump from Sunshine. The Mega Mushroom from the DS NSMB makes an occasional
appearance. There’s even a Mario Kart style level, if you can
believe that. I know a lot of people
tend to harp on Nintendo for falling back on the same old tricks year after
year, but there’s a reason why they can get away with it when others
can’t. One: their same old tricks change
ever so slightly, making tweaks to a formula that results in a completely
different experience from the game before it (barring the jump from Galaxy to Galaxy 2, or the Mario Bros.
Wii titles…and even then, they’re still rock-solid.) And two: their same old tricks are amazing.

Nintendo is a company I
feel like I can trust (even if my view of them is a bit too rosy). By and large, I feel like whatever they put into
their games is a conscious choice, and the result of carefully-applied,
carefully-managed formulas for producing the best experience they can. Unfortunately,
that’s both a strength and a weakness. Let’s
set aside the fact that if you’re tired of the Mario formula -- or have been
betrayed by Mario in the past, for whatever reason -- this isn’t going to
change your mind in the slightest. No,
I’d wager that if you were to run into problem with this game, it’ll be during
multiplayer sessions.

Tycho of Penny Arcade put it best:
“New Super Mario Bros. Wii is marriage
poison.” It’s not as bad in 3D World on account of (usually) having
enough space to move around in, but you’d better be damn ready for some
frustration. Single-player lets you move
at your pace, and engage in the expected “player vs. game” interaction. The problem is that when you add even one
more player, it becomes “player vs. player vs. game”. Each player has their different pace, style,
and strategy (and that’s accented by having characters with
strengths/weaknesses that make them VASTLY different from one another). Everyone comes up with their own solution to
the problems the game throws at them, so it’s not uncommon for one player to
take the lead, leave the others behind, or outright cause their deaths because
nobody was on the same page.

Where things get really
dicey is -- of all things -- the holdover from Mario games past. If I remember right, picking up things like
turtle shells from the older games was done by holding the run button and
pressing your plumber against it. That’s
true in this game as well; the problem is that you can AND WILL pick up your
buddies if you tap against them while running.
Inevitably, this will lead to a number of accidental deaths that didn’t
really need to be there, and trying to avoid those deaths puts an unneeded
wrinkle in a game that’s almost as smooth as can be. The “pick up player” option really needed to
be set to another button, and the fact that it isn’t makes me think that the
Big N planned for that level of unwilling chaos. Remember, this is the company that approved a
handful of Mario Kart and Mario Party games -- and let us not
forget the dark specter of tripping that hangs over Smash Bros. Brawl to this day.

I also have to wonder
about the bosses in this game. Having
watched the Grumps’ LP of Mario 3, it
was a surprise for me to see that every level had the same mini-boss (only
occasionally tweaked) and largely the same main boss (only occasionally
tweaked) throughout what many consider to be one of the greatest games
ever. They felt more like an
afterthought -- that is, until you theorize that by and large, playing Mario
for the bosses is like buying a four-course dinner for the rolls. That same mindset transfers over to 3D World, and it’s something of a
detriment; it’s one thing to fight nearly every boss twice, but it’s something
else entirely when said bosses -- barring a couple -- are neither taxing nor
particularly interesting. That little
theory of mine gets reinforced by the last boss fight (I won’t spoil it here,
because it is pretty cool), but it’s a shame to have the game stumble with its
big encounters.

Lastly, I can’t help
but feel like the “find Green Stars to unlock the boss stage!” mechanic isn’t
quite beneficial in the end. It’s true
that it invites players to explore levels more overtly instead of making it a
whispered suggestion, but sometimes it feels like the Green Star search takes
away from the experience rather than adding to it. “You MUST explore levels to find Green
Stars!” the game asserts. All well and
good, but it puts the focus on finding Green Stars and runs the risk of
devaluing everything else. “Oh, it’s
just an empty space,” the player might say when their search comes up
empty-handed. Or “Wait, I’d better
search around here for a Green Star.” It
adds pressure, and an objective that has more than enough potential to detract
from an easy, breezy experience. It
doesn’t always -- and finding all three in a stage gives its own emotional
rewards -- but it is an issue I feel like I should put out in the open.

Wait, why does a star need eyes...?

Then again, I’m
probably overthinking things -- and for once, that’s a good thing. If I have to think this hard to come up with cons for a game, then clearly it’s a
signal that something has gone right.
And it has gone right, because 3D
World is an amazing game. It looks
right, it feels right, it plays right, and…well, it IS right. It has more than enough juice, and it makes a
pretty strong argument for being the Wii U’s killer app. Simply put, if you need a reason to take the
plunge with the Big N -- or even into the eighth console generation -- this
could do it.

Now then. Let’s talk about that story.

The premise is simple
enough. Mario and the gang are going for
a midnight stroll (or something), when they run into a mysterious clear
pipe. The brothers go to it and fix the
pipe, and one of the Sprixies pops out of it.
She tells the gang that Bowser’s been running amok in her kingdom, and
it’s not long before the big boss Koopa snatches her up and drags her back down
the pipe. So the gang goes in to rescue
her and her friends, doing what they’ve done for some thirty-odd years:
running, jumping, and turtle-bopping their way to captured princesses. And to a lesser extent, glory.

I went into the game
expecting to turn it into Super Peach 3D
World, in which the story acts as a prequel detailing the foundation of the
Mushroom Kingdom and how it/she rose to power against the Koopas. And I almost did, given that the opening
shows Peach (of all people!) diving into the pipe first. But the more I played, the more I realized
there’s already a story in place. It’s
subtle, yes -- to the point of nonexistence, and I might just be playing the
fool for your amusement -- but I feel like there’s something there. There’s something that I need to say.

Simply put, 3D World is one big allegory for
imperialism.

Now, hear me out on
this. It sounds crazy, I know, but the
evidence is all there. (Minor spoilers
incoming, but…come on, it’s a Mario game.) As you’d expect from a big baddie, Bowser
storms the Sprixie kingdom and starts setting up shop, taking their land,
kidnapping the princesses, and using their (admittedly vaguely-defined) powers
of construction to build an amusement park in his image. He’s taking advantage of the natives for his
own gain, because that’s what villains do.
Or the British, I guess.

You would think, then,
that the Mario gang would act as liberators who come in and get out as soon as
the job is done. But if you really pay
attention to the game, you’ll find that that’s not exactly the case. The gang is a group of visitors from another
land, and they’re taking back each stage -- Sprixie territory -- from the Koopa
Kingdom. Fair enough…until you realize
that they never give that territory back. If you’re playing as Peach, each time you
beat the level by reaching the flagpole at the end, you’ll raise a
crown-bearing flag instead -- a symbol that the land and everything in it has
been taken back from the Mushroom Kingdom’s enemies. That means that everything in it, i.e. the
stage’s natural resources (power-ups, Green Stars, and collectible stamps, not
to mention all the flora and fauna unique to the kingdom, and thus worth a
pretty coin back home) belong to Peach.

In a way, it’s actually
a kind of dark tale. The Sprixies are
tormented by Bowser and his forces, and thankful for the help the gang (led
specifically by Princess Peach, as per the intro) lends to their cause. But here’s the thing: the Sprixies clearly
don’t know any better. The gang is
saving them, but they’re all too eager to shower you with gifts -- tribute for
your presence, i.e. giving you free stamps, offering you access to the vantage
points of the stages, and quite possibly summoning giant slot machines out of
the aether. Seconds after you free one
of them from a boss’ clutches, they’ll build you a pipe so you can continue
your expedition. They revere you; they
understand the basic concept of freedom, but none of the nuances. They think that as long as they’re free from
their glass bottles they’ll be fine, unaware that the Mushroom Kingdom has the
potential to suck them dry.

You might think that I’m
reaching here -- and admittedly I am -- but the game supports my theory way too
well. When I say “expedition”, I mean
it. Captain Toad is exploring the world
for more than just adventure; he’s looking for Green Stars to pilfer and take
back home. The Peach Expedition Committee
may be venturing out to save the Sprixies, but at the same time they’re lining
their pockets with tens of thousands of gold coins -- supernatural resources
bound to offer something to the homeland.
Progressing from stage-to-stage may be the only way to build a route to
the enemy stronghold, but bear in mind that the Committee is removing every
foothold their enemies have in the brave new world. The Sprixie Kingdom is as much a battlefield
as it is a business venture.

And the Sprixies are
none the wiser. Why would they be? This is the first time they’ve been invaded
or manipulated to gain their precious resources, so as long as their basic
rights are kept intact there’s no reason to complain. I’d wager that to the Committee -- to Peach
especially, as a member of the royal family -- what they do is their
duty as members of a higher culture…even if that “higher culture” aspect is
debatable. They’ll take the land, accept
tributes, and let the Sprixies revere them as saviors, if not gods. Just the way they like it.

The Mushroom Kingdom is
likely the lesser of two evils here, all things considered. Thankfully, they’re not destroying the land,
or bringing any harm to the natives. Nor
are they forcing them into service
(suggesting it, maybe, but even that’s a stretch). Merely the fact that they’re letting the
natives keep their freedoms has to count for something -- and on top of that,
there’s always the possibility that their imperialism can lead to the
strengthening of both kingdoms. The
Mushroom Kingdom may be able to grow fat off the land, but in exchange they can
install new institutions, spread education, share technologies -- all sorts of
things that the stamp-loving Sprixies would never have considered on their
own. There is that possibility for good,
because the head of state (and the world, barring the rebellious Koopa Kingdom)
is willing to be a real trooper about things.
She’s probably having too much fun burning everything in her path.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut with all that said, I have to wonder: why can’t
the Sprixies save themselves? Or to be
more precise, should they be able to defend themselves? If the Peach Expedition Committee is really
devoted to stopping Bowser, they’re doing so on native soil as a benefactor --
a force that’s (tangentially) for good, but effectively staging a turtle-stomping
intervention. Are they right in doing
so, though? Protecting those that can’t
protect themselves is important, but what happens during and after it goes into
a moral gray area.

How far are the
interveners allowed to go? Should Peach sanction
the posting of Toad soldiers to make sure that the Koopas don’t strike back? Should she allow the Sprixies to learn how to
defend themselves against future invaders?
In doing so, is it possible that the Sprixies -- with their possibly-limitless
power of creation -- could become a threat to the Mushroom Kingdom? Are they already a threat, and they don’t
even realize it? Could it be that the
intervention is as much a means to control the fairies as it is to save and
exploit them?

Yikesy mikesy. 3D
World isn’t just about imperialism -- it’s a vehicle for modern foreign
policy disguised as a platformer.

JB, help me out here.

Far be it from me to go
questioning a canon I don’t genuinely understand. But if nothing else, I think 3D World presents one of -- if not the
most -- interesting looks into the Marioverse yet. There’s very little actually said outright,
with no opinions on whether or not these characters are in the right -- except
Bowser, because screw that guy -- but maybe that’s the point. What happens to this world and the peoples
within it is in the hands of a chosen few.
And when all’s said and done, that’s the way it should be.

A game that allows for
interpretations like that is a clear indication that it’s got some real oomph
to it. Granted, it could be completely wrong, and just a happy coincidence by a
bunch of well-meaning developers looking to test the limits of jump
physics. But whether I’m right or wrong,
I don’t mind either way. Mario 3D World is a great game. I’m glad I have it. I’m glad I played it. And I feel like playing it some more. Seriously, people -- this game’s a sign the
Wii U’s got some juice in it. Don’t
count it out of the race just yet.

5 comments:

It's quite interesting to read the take of someone that isn't as well versed in the Mario games as most people would expect. Mario may have been around for nearly 30 years, but there are still folks, gamers included that haven't sampled his games, including his earliest exploits.

Super Mario Bros. 2 isn't my favorite 2D Mario game, nor is it my favrotie Mario of all-time, but it is a Mario platfomer that I hold in very high regard and I love it whenever Nintendo makes some kind of reference or homage to that game. So being able to select four different characters and have each one of them play different is very much a huge, awesome deal for me.

I'm planning on picking up a Wii U and I already have this game being shipped to me. I'd like to play New Super Mario Bros. U first since I plan to get the NSMBU/NSLU bundle, but I'll more than likely be playing 3D World right off the bat.

Amusing point regarding the imperial take over of the Mushroom Kingdom. It certainly would have made an appearance by Daisy that much more interesting. Doubly so if there's any truth to Luigi and her being a thing. Brother against brother in a territory war.

My money is on Sarasa Land though. Their native inhabitants are downright terrifying. Right down to the shape shifting bunny creatures and the flowers that grant you the ability to throw bouncy cannonballs...?

Oh jeez, that's right. Sarasa Land is a thing that exists, isn't it? See, I told you I don't know much about the Mario games. If only there were some sort of vast, sprawling network of information that I could easily access with the click of a button. But where am I going to find one of those?

Also? A war between the Mario brothers would be the dopest and/or hypest game ever created. The Big N needs to fund that immediately.

Interesting that you'd bring up Mario Bros. 2. It's my understanding that it's just a re-skinned version of a game called Doki Doki Panic -- and while it paid off in the long run, I wonder if the "four players with different stats!" angle was a conscious choice on the Big N's part, or just a happy mutation brought about by the original game.

Well, whatever. What's important is that the mechanic's been revived in 3D World, and it does make for an interesting experience. Then again, it can also come very close to inducing tears of fury; you don't know how many times I/Peach got left behind in multiplayer because of a low top speed.